Identifying relationships of interest of entities

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method, system and computer program product for identifying relationships of interest of entities in a data modeling environment, where the data modeling environment represents objects as entities with links representing relationships between the entities. A query is received, where the query includes entity(ies) and link(s) with at least one of the entities or links designated as an output item. The query is analyzed to identify each dumbbell in the query, where a dumbbell is a link with a first entity at a first end of the link and a second entity at a second end of the link. Each identified dumbbell is examined to determine if the dumbbell includes an output item; and, if the dumbbell includes an output item, adding the dumbbell to a catalogue of relationships if a dumbbell is not already listed having the link type and entity types of the identified dumbbell.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to identifying relationships ofinterest of entities, and more particularly to identifying relationshipsof interest of entities in a data analysis environment.

BACKGROUND

In a rich data environment in which entities, links, and properties(ELP) data needs to be searched, facets can assist with the filtering ofmatching results. In most faceting user interfaces, facets are generatedfrom properties and metadata of the items listed and the list ofavailable facets can be navigated via scrolling.

In an ELP data environment, facets can also be generated from linkedentities and their properties. For example, a search for“John Smith”could return a list of matching person entities. Facets generated bylegal end types specified by a schema could include “Linked to crime” ormore specifically “Linked to crime: assault”.

Given this capability, in a law enforcement deployment of a schema, thenumber of potential combinations of advanced facets could easily reachthe 1000 s and become unusable if presented to the user in theirentirety. Consequently, configuration is required to ensure the user isonly presented with advanced facets that are useful.

In order to make the most of this capability, there is either aconfiguration overhead for the administrator or an interaction overheadfor the user.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a computer-implementedmethod for identifying links representing relationships of interest in adata modeling system comprises receiving a query. The method furthercomprises analyzing the query to identify each dumbbell in the query,where the dumbbell is a link with a first entity at a first end of thelink and a second entity at a second end of the link. The methodadditionally comprises identifying a dumbbell in the query that has notbeen considered. Furthermore, the method comprises examining theidentified dumbbell to determine if the identified dumbbell includes anoutput item in a form of the dumbbell's link or one of the first andsecond entities. Additionally, the method comprises keeping theidentified dumbbell in response to the identified dumbbell including theoutput item. In addition, the method comprises discarding propertyvalues of items of the identified dumbbell in response to the identifieddumbbell including the output item. The method further comprises addingthe kept dumbbell to a catalogue of relationships including a link typeand entity types of the kept dumbbell in response to the catalogue ofrelationships not already listing a stored dumbbell having the link typeand entity types.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a systemin which the present invention may be implemented;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams illustrating linked entities inaccordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a first example embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of an example query with FIG. 4Bshowing extracted relationships of interest in accordance with an aspectof the present invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example userinterface with advanced facets in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is block diagram of an example embodiment of a system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system or cloudserver in which the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a cloud computing environment in whichthe present invention may be implemented; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of abstraction model layers of a cloud computingenvironment in which the present invention may be implemented.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale.For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggeratedrelative to other elements for clarity. Further, where consideredappropriate, reference numbers may be repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and a system are provided for identifying relationships ofinterest of entities. Information may be expressed in terms of entities,links, and properties (ELP) that may be analyzed using data models. Forexample, a data model may provide a platform for manipulating andstoring types of entities, links, and properties as controlled by adeployment-specific schema.

An example of a data model environment is IBM i2 Analyze (IBM and i2 aretrademarks of International Business Machines Corporation) that is anenterprise intelligence analysis environment that facilitatesinformation sharing and intelligence production with the flexibility ofboth web-based and rich desktop clients. It accelerates analysis oflarge volumes of data through an extensible, service-orientedenvironment, designed to integrate into existing enterpriseinfrastructure, and simplify database connectivity. i2 Analyze supportsoperational analysis and improves situational awareness by providingfaster, more informed decision making across and inside organizations.

The described method and system enables a user to create and save aquery that is harvested to capture relationships between entities thatmay be deemed of interest. The method and system may use the types oflink to obtain advanced facets for searching on the query.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrates an example embodimentof a system 100 in which the described method may be implemented. Thesystem 100 may include a data modeling system 120 for providing datavisualization and a database management system 111 with access to datasources 101, 102 from which data may be retrieved.

The data modeling system 120 and database management system 111 may beprovided on one or more servers 110 for provision as a web-based systemwith a data modeling system client 140 which may be a rich desktopclient providing a client user interface (UI) 150.

The described data modeling system 120 includes a relationshipprocessing component 130 for providing the described functionality ofrelationship analysis and provision of advanced facets based onrelationship types.

The client UI 150 may include a query input component 151 for receivinginput of a user query as described further below. The client UI 150 maydisplay a generated data model of retrieved data from the data sources101, 102 including entities 161-164, links 171-173, and properties 181,182 of the entities and links. Data connectors may be used to acquiredata from the data sources 101, 102 and may convert requested data intoentities 161-164, links 171-173, and properties 181, 182 to be displayedto the user in the client UI 150.

In a described data model environment, entities, links, and propertiesare defined as follows. Entities and links may be referred to as items.

-   -   An “entity” represents an object. This may be a real world        physical object such as a “Person” or a “Car”, or a conceptual        object, such as a “Meeting” or an “Insurance Claim”.    -   A “link” associates two entities with each other. For example, a        “Person” entity might be associated with a “Car” entity through        an “Owns” link.    -   A “property” stores a value that characterizes an entity or a        link. For example, a “Person” entity might have properties that        record its given name, surname, date of birth, and hair color.

The simplest relationship in an ELP data model involves two entitiesthat are connected with a single link. These kinds of relationships arethe building blocks for data structures that contain chains and networksof entities with any number of links between them. Because of what theserelationships look like when they appear in visualizations, thestructure is sometimes called a “dumbbell”.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, schematic diagrams 200, 250 show adumbbell formed of two entities 161, 162 with a link 171. For example,the first entity 161 may be a person of name “Anna Harvey” with a dateof birth of “05.05.1974” and the second entity may be a car ofmanufacture “Ford”, make “Mondeo” (Ford and Mondeo are trademarks ofFord Motor Company), year “2007”. The link 171 may indicate that theperson “owns” the car. The properties may be stored in cards asillustrated in FIG. 2B.

FIG. 2B shows that the first entity 161 and the second entity 162 eachhave an identifier 211, 221 that is unique within a deployment of theplatform, a type 212, 222 which determines what properties the entitycan have, and metadata 213, 223 such as the time when the entity wascreated and modified. The entities 161, 162 may store their propertiesin one or more cards 214, 224 that they contain. Usually, a cardcontains properties whose values were supplied by a single source at aparticular time. Different cards for a single entity may come fromdifferent sources. The cards themselves may have an identifier andmetadata.

The link 171 between two entities 161, 162 may also include anidentifier 231, a type 232, metadata 233 and cards 234. In addition, thelink 171 includes an indication of the entity 161 the link is from 237and the entity 162 the link is to 238 such that the link 171 has adirection. In addition, a link 171 may include a direction 235 and astrength 236.

The types 212, 222, 232 for entities and links are defined by the schemaand the type categorizes the host and determines the categories it canhave. A link type is similar to an entity type but contains moreinformation. The link type also specifies what types of entities can beat the ends of that link.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram 300 shows an example embodiment ofthe described method.

The method identifies links representing relationships of interest in adata modeling system. The data modeling system may represent objects asentities with links representing relationships between the entities.Entities and links are referred to as items. A link joining two entitiesis referred to as a dumbbell.

The method may receive 301 a query, the query comprising one or moreentities and, optionally, one or more links. The query may be createdand saved by a user of the data modeling system. In a saved query, oneor more of the items (i.e. an entity or a link) is designated as anoutput item. An output item may be interpreted as being of significantinterest as the query returns items of these types to the user. Anoutput item determines the item type that will be returned by theresponse to the query.

The query may be analyzed 302 to identify each dumbbell in the query.

It may be determined 303 if there is a dumbbell in the query that hasnot already been considered. If there are no dumbbells that have notalready been considered, then the method may end 304.

If there is a dumbbell that has not already been considered, it may beexamined to determine 305 if the dumbbell includes an output item in theform of the dumbbell's link or one of the end entities.

If the dumbbell does not include an output item, the dumbbell may bediscarded 306 as the identified relationship does not contain an item tobe returned in the query.

If the dumbbell does include an output item, then the dumbbell is kept307 and the property values of the items of the dumbbell are discarded.The property values are discarded as, when relationships are surfaced inother parts of the application, the property values will not berelevant.

A kept dumbbell, including the link type and entity types, may be added308 to a catalogue of relationships if a dumbbell is not already listedhaving the link type and entity types. A catalogue may be any datastructure that stores relationships, for example, person-offender-crime.The method may then loop to determine 303 if there is another dumbbellin the query that has not yet been considered.

The method may be repeated for each saved query so as to generate a listof relationships for each item type. A list of relationships may begenerated for all saved queries input via the user interface.Alternatively, a list of relationships may be generated for savedqueries for a specified user of the user interface.

These lists may be used when a user runs a keyword search and ispresented with a mixed item type list of matching results. The mixeditem type list may be ordered or filtered by item types. For example,when viewing a list of person entities in a text search results userinterface, filters may allow the user to shortlist only those personslinked to a crime by an offender link.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, in a data analysis environment, such asIBM i2 Analyze, a user may create and save queries 400 that may bere-run to find items of interest. These queries may be harvested tocapture relationships between items that may be deemed interesting.

Referring to FIG. 4A a schematic diagram shows a query 400 including aperson entity 401 that is designated as an output item. The query 400will return person items 401 linked to a vehicle 402 by an owner link411 and linked to a crime 403 in the form of an assault by an offenderlink 412, where the crime 403 is also linked to a specified location 404of a town/city by any link type 413.

In FIG. 4A, the structure of the query 400 suggests the user isinterested in persons 401 linked to assault crimes 403 by an offenderlink type 412 and also persons 401 who own 411 a vehicle 402.

Curating a list of these relationships of interest can inform ashortlist of advanced facets to be displayed from the potential list of1000 s. The creation and maintenance of a list of relationships ofinterest may be carried out by crawling the saved queries available to agiven user as well as those created and run by that user.

All queries may be deconstructed into a list of dumbbells (i.e., aperson entity linked to a crime entity). A dumbbell can be identifiedprogrammatically by finding each link and then identifying the entitiesat each end as entity creation is a precondition for creating a link. Ina saved query, at least one item must be designated as the output of thequery. In FIG. 4A, the person entity 401 is marked as the output. Outputitems may be interpreted as being of significant interest as the queryis going to return items of these types to the user.

Applying the described method, the query 400 in FIG. 4A may bedeconstructed to the dumbbells 421, 422 illustrated in FIG. 4B. As bothof these dumbbells 421, 422 feature the designated output, in this casethe person entity 401, they can both be considered relationships ofinterest. The relationship between the crime 403 and location 404 is notdeemed of primary interest, as the user has not expressed an interest inbeing returned crimes or locations.

In this case, the relationships to be included in the list for personitems are:

-   -   1. Linked to vehicle by owner link; and    -   2. Linked to crime of type. It may be noted the value of the        crime type is not included in this embodiment. Some embodiments        may take values such as the crime type into account, so that the        relationship Person-Offender-Crime (Burglary) is recorded as        interesting whereas the relationship Person-Offender-Crime        (Vandalism) is not.

The value of these lists is realized when a user runs a basic keywordsearch and is presented with a mixed item type list of matching results.Upon filtering by “Person”, facets can be generated with reference tothe list of relationships of interest for that type.

Referring to FIG. 5A a schematic diagram of options in the client UI 150is shown for the person output. Standard facets 540 may be offered inthe UI based on properties, for example, in the form of “Gender” 550 of“Male” 551 or “Female” 552, and “Nationality” 560 in the form of“British” 561 or “French” 562.

Advanced facets 510 may be offered in the UI to the user based on therelationships of interest. For example, an advanced facet of “Vehicle”520 may include an option of “Owner of vehicle” 521 which may returnresults. As another example, an advanced facet of “Crime” 530 mayinclude “Offender of crime: Assault” 531, “Offender of crime: Burglary”532, and “Offender of crime: Theft” 533. These allow the user to filterthe list not by properties of the person items, but by theirrelationships with other item types, all without user configuration oradministrator overhead.

The method may provide automatic generation of suggested relationshipsof interest on link type, such as “Offender: Crime”, and “Offender:Burglary”. This may provide the ability to perform a filtered expandbased on a relationship of interest on link type, “Offender: Crime”, and“Offender: Burglary”.

High performance of this pattern is supported by dumbbell indexing, anindexing strategy that can be powered by search platforms. Dumbbellindexing is supported by search platforms such as Solr (Solr is a trademark of Apache Software Foundation) and allows an index to beconstructed based on the connectivity of items. When a filter isapplied, an expensive query does not have to be executed as the indexcan already provide the results.

In another embodiment, this list of relationships may be used to poweran enhanced filtered expand of chart items. FIG. 5A shows an exampleembodiment of a display of the client UI 150 that illustrates how a usermay select a person item, in this example “Gene Hendricks” 570 on anetwork chart. The user may be offered options 571 including the optionof “Advanced Expand” 572. “Advanced Expand” 572 may expand to optionssuch as “Owner of vehicle” 573, “Offender of crime: Assault” 574,“Offender of crime: Burglary” 575, and “Offender of crime: Theft” 576 inaccordance with the list above.

Referring to FIG. 6, a block diagram shows an example embodiment of thedescribed relationship processing component 130.

The relationship processing component 130 may include at least oneprocessor 601, a hardware module, or a circuit for executing thefunctions of the described components which may be software unitsexecuting on the at least one processor. Multiple processors runningparallel processing threads may be provided enabling parallel processingof some or all of the functions of the components. Memory 602 may beconfigured to provide computer instructions 603 to the at least oneprocessor 601 to carry out the functionality of the components.

As described in relation to FIG. 1, the relationship processingcomponent 130 may be provided as associated with or integral to a datamodeling system 120 which has access to one or more data sources.

The relationship processing component 130 may include a query receivingcomponent 610 for receiving a user query as input and saved in a clientUI of the relationship processing component 130. The query may includeat least one output item identified by the query receiving component610.

The relationship processing component 130 may include a query analysiscomponent 620 for analyzing the received query. The query analysiscomponent 620 may include a dumbbell identifying component 621 foridentifying dumbbells in the query in the form of a link with entitiesat either end. The query analysis component 620 may include a dumbbellanalyzing component 622 for examining a dumbbell to determine if thedumbbell includes an output item of the query.

The query analysis component 620 may further include a dumbbell addingcomponent 623 for adding a dumbbell which includes an output item to acatalogue of relationships as maintained by a relationship cataloguecomponent 630. The added dumbbell may include the link type and entitytypes.

The method may be repeated for each saved query so as to generate a listof relationships for each item type maintained by a list ofrelationships component 632. These lists may be used when a user runs akeyword search and is presented with a mixed item type list of matchingresults.

The data modeling system 120 may have a data modeling system client 140for providing a user interface to a user. The data modeling systemclient 140 may include a user interface search filtering component 640for using the list of relationships for filtering item types when a userruns a keyword search and is presented with a mixed item type list ofmatching results.

The data modeling system client 140 may also include an advanced facetcomponent 642 for using the list of relationships for an item type toprovide an advanced facet for searching at the user interface.

The data modeling system client 140 may also include a filteredexpansion component 644 for providing a filtered expansion for an itemtype based on the list of relationships for the item type.

The data modeling system client 140 may also include an automaticgeneration component 646 for enabling automatic generation of suggestedrelationships of interest for an item type based on the list ofrelationships for the item type.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a schematic of an example of a system 700 inthe form of a computer system or server is shown.

A computer system or server 712 may be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with computersystem/server 712 include, but are not limited to, personal computersystems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-heldor laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloudcomputing environments that include any of the above systems or devices,and the like.

Computer system/server 712 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 712 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

In FIG. 7, a computer system/server 712 is shown in the form of ageneral-purpose computing device. The components of the computersystem/server 712 may include, but are not limited to, one or moreprocessors or processing units 716, a system memory 728, and a bus 718that couples various system components including system memory 728 toprocessor 716.

Bus 718 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 712 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 712, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 728 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 730 and/or cachememory 732. Computer system/server 712 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 734 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 718 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 728 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 740, having a set (at least one) of program modules 742,may be stored in memory 728 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 742 generally carry out the functionsand/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as describedherein.

Computer system/server 712 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 714 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display724, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact withcomputer system/server 712; and/or any devices (e.g., network card,modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 712 to communicate withone or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur viaInput/Output (I/O) interfaces 722. Still yet, computer system/server 712can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 720. As depicted, network adapter 720communicates with the other components of computer system/server 712 viabus 718. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 712. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a computer, or other programmable data processing apparatusto produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computerreadable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readablestorage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable dataprocessing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the computer readable storage medium havinginstructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be accomplished as one step, executed concurrently,substantially concurrently, in a partially or wholly temporallyoverlapping manner, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in thereverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will alsobe noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts orcarry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

Cloud Computing

It is to be understood that although this disclosure includes a detaileddescription on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recitedherein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure that includes anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 8, illustrative cloud computing environment 850 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 850 includes one or morecloud computing nodes 810 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 854A, desktop computer 854B, laptop computer 854C,and/or automobile computer system 854N may communicate. Nodes 810 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 850 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 854A-Nshown in FIG. 8 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 810 and cloud computing environment 850 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 9, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 950 (FIG. 9) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 9 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 960 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 961;RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 962;servers 963; blade servers 964; storage devices 965; and networks andnetworking components 966. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 967 and database software968.

Virtualization layer 970 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers971; virtual storage 972; virtual networks 973, including virtualprivate networks; virtual applications and operating systems 974; andvirtual clients 975.

In one example, management layer 980 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 981 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 982provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may include applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 983 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 984provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 985 provides pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 990 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 991; software development and lifecycle management 992;virtual classroom education delivery 993; data analytics processing 994;transaction processing 995; and data model relationship processing 996.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

Improvements and modifications can be made to the foregoing withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

1. A computer program product for identifying links representing relationships of interest in a data modeling system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising the programming instructions for: receiving a query; analyzing said query to identify each dumbbell in said query, wherein said dumbbell is a link with a first entity at a first end of said link and a second entity at a second end of said link; identifying a dumbbell in said query that has not been considered; examining said identified dumbbell to determine if said identified dumbbell includes an output item in a form of said dumbbell's link or one of said first and second entities; keeping said identified dumbbell in response to said identified dumbbell including said output item; discarding property values of items of said identified dumbbell in response to said identified dumbbell including said output item; and adding said kept dumbbell to a catalogue of relationships including a link type and entity types of said kept dumbbell in response to said catalogue of relationships not already listing a stored dumbbell having said link type and entity types.
 2. The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructions for: identifying each dumbbell in said query programmatically by finding each link and then identifying the entities at each end.
 3. The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein said query is a query saved by a user.
 4. The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructions for: repeating said receiving, analyzing, examining and adding for multiple queries to generate a list of relationships for each item type.
 5. The computer program product as recited in claim 4, wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructions for: using said list of relationships when a user runs a keyword search and is presented with a mixed item type list of matching results, wherein said list of relationships is used to filter item types.
 6. The computer program product as recited in claim 4, wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructions for: using said list of relationships for a particular item type to provide an advanced facet for searching.
 7. The computer program product as recited in claim 4, wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructions for: providing a filtered expansion for a particular item type based on said list of relationships for said particular item type.
 8. The computer program product as recited in claim 4, wherein the program code further comprises the programming instructions for: enabling automatic generation of suggested relationships of interest for a particular item type based on said list of relationships for said particular item type.
 9. The computer program product as recited in claim 4, wherein said list of relationships is generated for all saved queries, wherein said list of relationships is used when a user runs a keyword search and is presented with a mixed item type list of matching results, wherein said mixed item type list is filtered by item types.
 10. The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein said items of said identified dumbbell comprise entities and links.
 11. A system, comprising: a memory for storing a computer program for identifying links representing relationships of interest in a data modeling system; and a processor connected to said memory, wherein said processor is configured to execute the program instructions of the computer program comprising: receiving a query; analyzing said query to identify each dumbbell in said query, wherein said dumbbell is a link with a first entity at a first end of said link and a second entity at a second end of said link; identifying a dumbbell in said query that has not been considered; examining said identified dumbbell to determine if said identified dumbbell includes an output item in a form of said dumbbell's link or one of said first and second entities; keeping said identified dumbbell in response to said identified dumbbell including said output item; discarding property values of items of said identified dumbbell in response to said identified dumbbell including said output item; and adding said kept dumbbell to a catalogue of relationships including a link type and entity types of said kept dumbbell in response to said catalogue of relationships not already listing a stored dumbbell having said link type and entity types.
 12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the program instructions of the computer program further comprise: identifying each dumbbell in said query programmatically by finding each link and then identifying the entities at each end.
 13. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein said query is a query saved by a user.
 14. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the program instructions of the computer program further comprise: repeating said receiving, analyzing, examining and adding for multiple queries to generate a list of relationships for each item type.
 15. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the program instructions of the computer program further comprise: using said list of relationships when a user runs a keyword search and is presented with a mixed item type list of matching results, wherein said list of relationships is used to filter item types.
 16. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the program instructions of the computer program further comprise: using said list of relationships for a particular item type to provide an advanced facet for searching.
 17. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the program instructions of the computer program further comprise: providing a filtered expansion for a particular item type based on said list of relationships for said particular item type.
 18. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the program instructions of the computer program further comprise: enabling automatic generation of suggested relationships of interest for a particular item type based on said list of relationships for said particular item type.
 19. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein said list of relationships is generated for all saved queries, wherein said list of relationships is used when a user runs a keyword search and is presented with a mixed item type list of matching results, wherein said mixed item type list is filtered by item types.
 20. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein said items of said identified dumbbell comprise entities and links. 